Russia has finally closed the book on its campaign to accede to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), becoming a full member after 18 years of talks – despite the ratification of the accession treaty in the final stages being accompanied by protests from some State Duma deputies and businessmen.

Now that it enjoys the status of a full member of the organisation, Russia is entitled to play its part in formulating the rules for global commerce.

Bidding farewell to its inconspicuous status as an observer, the country will now enjoy lower customs duties, from which Russian exporters of metals and chemicals will be the first to benefit.

“In recent years, Russian exports have not only failed to diversify, but actually deteriorated. We haven’t approved a single strategy for promoting exports,” said Natalia Volchkova, a professor at the Russian School of Economics. She added: “The WTO accession is the first significant measure to promote Russian exports.”

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The country’s accession to the WTO will also force Russian market players to adapt their conduct to the global marketplace.

Experts hope the impending change will encourage businesses to operate more transparently, as their activities will be monitored not only by the Russian authorities, but also foreign representatives. “The expected stabilisation of trade policy will make Russia more appealing to foreign investors,” Ms Volchkova said.

Troika Dialog analysts believe that the consumer services sector will also benefit from Russia’s accession. The import duty for this sector is projected to go down to an average of 10.3pc from the current 13.3pc rate. Furthermore, import restraints will be mitigated, including those applied to foodstuffs.

At the same time, other sectors, such as finance and telecoms, will take some time before seeing the first WTO accession benefits.

A World Bank study has revealed that accession to the WTO will also result in higher wages for both low-paid and professional workers. World Bank specialists attribute this to the fact that new foreign companies seeking to open offices in Russia will have to recruit staff from both categories.

On the downside, the Russian budget will have to bear the brunt of losses in import duties. Previously, Andrei Belousov, the minister for economic development, said that the federal budget would lose an estimated 188bn roubles (£3.7bn) in 2013 alone as a consequence of the accession-related cuts in import duties; in 2014, the losses might amount to 257bn roubles (£5bn).

Even so, the minister feels optimistic. In his words, the real loss to the state budget will be less than that, as a result of the anticipated increase in the trade volume and tax base. The reduced tariff protection was dubbed the “entrance fee.”

In any case, import duties will be reduced gradually and this will enable manufacturing companies and farms to adapt gradually.

The average tariff is currently 9.5pc but it will be cut to 7.4pc in 2013, 6.9pc in 2014, and around 6pc in 2015 – by which time it will have been slashed by 3.5pc.

The financial pessimism is partially offset by the World Bank forecasts. According to the Bank, the accession will help Russia increase its GDP by an additional 3.3pc (a total of £41bn) within three years and 11pc (£136bn) within 11 years; and this will be long-lasting growth.

Russian specialists are less optimistic. Russian School of Economics experts project that membership of the WTO will only provide an additional GDP growth of 0.5pc annually.

Overall, Russia’s rights are far from infringed in the WTO. Indeed, the country has successfully haggled over the terms for access by foreign bank branches to Russia’s domestic market: foreign banks will only be able to operate in Russia via Russian subsidiaries registered and controlled by the Central Bank.

The gas issue has also been resolved favourably for Russia, as the 30pc duty on natural gas remains in place. Russia has also successfully negotiated transition periods, with long acclimatisation time frames for the automotive industry, agriculture and insurance.

“Russia has got itself quite a favourable framework, and our task now is to be active and seek benefits not only as an individual country but also to make friends with the economies with which we share the same interests,” said Alexei Portansky, a professor in the global economy and international politics department at the Higher School of Economics.

“For instance, we are interested in the countries that have minimum support for their agriculture, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Latin America. This group is most interested in the fastest possible abolition of agricultural subsidies. We must join them and seek the cancellation of subsidies together.”

Transition periods to liberalise market access rules are from two to three years, but they may be stretched to five to seven years in the case of sectors deemed to be especially sensitive. Russia’s ratification team had drawn up a list of sensitive industries that might encounter economic and financial difficulties under the accession terms; this included the automotive industry, agribusiness, farm machinery and light industry.

Market players believe that the sensitive agricultural sector will lose tens of billions of roubles annually as a result of the accession. Swine breeding alone might lose up to 20bn roubles (£392m). “The sector suffers because of the lower customs duties – they will fall to 11pc from 15pc on average for farm products,” said Yury Kovalev, head of the National Pig Farming Union.

“When it comes to pig breeding, we expect a reduction from 15pc to nothing within quotas and to 5pc from 40pc on live animals.”